“For after I turned back, I repented; and after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated because I bore the reproach of my youth.” Jeremiah 31:19 NASB Turned back – Shuv. To turn back. To return. To turn around. Shuv assumes prior defeat. One does not turn back…
So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali. Genesis 30:8 NASB Mighty – What a tangled verse! Avraham Weiss translates Rachel’s statement as “I wrestled with God and prevailed.” But you won’t find that in English. Instead, English translators interpret elohim…
“Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:9 NASB May turn – Rabbi David Aaron addresses the difference between Jews and Christians on the subject of prayer in his online article, “Why Do We Pray?” In that article he states the Jews do…
He opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying, Matthew 5:2 NASB To teach – “The test of a true sermon is that it can be converted into prayer.”[1] Are you a preacher? Do you lead a Bible study? Do you teach your children or grandchildren the texts of Scripture? Are you an elder…
But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6 NASB When you pray – Silent prayer, the paradigm of Christian meditation, has always alluded me. No sooner…
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” Matthew 6:5 NASB Pray – You can’t speak Italian like…
“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:4 NASB Prayer – Okay, we get the idea that someone in leadership has to serve. We understand that diakonia must be evident in the lives of those who lead. The assembly of believers is a hierarchy of service. Its…
Scott Peck was right. Life is difficult. But perhaps it is difficult in a different way than he imagined. He noted that our expectations of comfort and pleasure are at odds with the reality of true fulfillment. Real life comes from the willingness to live for something bigger than myself (Heschel). That means sacrifice at…
“If one goes to defile himself, openings are made for him; and he who goes to purify himself, help is afforded him.” Tractate Shabbat 104a Openings – Recently a man in China asked me to pray for him. He was having violent dreams and he was afraid that those dreams would cause him to act violently….
“But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:4 NASB But – Let’s see if we have this straight. The Twelve, the most important men in the assemblies of Torah-observant Messianic Jewish believers, decline administrative responsibilities because they need to be fully attentive to prayer and the “ministry”…
